MST3K 810 - The Giant Spider Invasion
The Movie Synopsis Some sort of a meteor shoots out of the Crab Nebula and makes its way to Earth, where it lands in the back pasture of a family of hillbillies. A giant spider emerges and starts laying rock-like eggs all over the place from which hatch a bunch of creepy tarantulas. Now it's up to a NASA scientist and an astrophysicist to figure out a way to destroy the monster before it and its children manage to ravage the whole countryside. There's hillbillies, bumpkin sheriffs, a teenage reporter, and a whole town full of drunken lumberjacks facing off against The Giant Spider Invasion. Who will win the final battle? Information * Alan Hale Jr. greets Davey (Kevin Brodie) in the opening scene with the line, "Hi, little buddy!" This is an obvious reference to his role as The Skipper on "Gilligan's Island". * The budget for the film was around $250,000. * Dan and Ev have a conversation which includes the exchange: Ev: "I'm sorry I missed the sermon. What was it about?" Dan: "Sin." Ev: "What did the minister say about it?" Dan: "He was against it." That referred to a famous (or infamous) conversation former President Calvin Coolidge - nicknamed "Silent Cal" - and his wife once had. * There was supposed to be a dramatic shot of the giant spider crushing the house by having the spider dropped from a crane onto it while a bulldozer chained to the back of the house would pull away. However, when the shot was filmed, the spider's legs all went straight up into the air! The crew inside working it's arms were nearly killed when broken wood from the destroyed house came up through the spider and came close to impaling them. * There was supposed to be a shot of a big spider in a tree bursting into flames. To achieve this, the director covered a large prop spider with gunpowder and had two crew members sitting above it in the tree who would drop a match on the spider. The director got the camera up to a very fast fps to achieve a slow motion look, and had them drop the first match. Nothing happened, so they dropped a second. Still nothing happened, so they lit the entire book of matches and dropped it on the spider. With nothing happening, the director turned off the camera - and immediately afterwords a huge explosion and fireball shot up, burning the hair off of the crew members and starting several small brush fires. The director was furious that he wasn't able to get the shot on film. * In a scene depicting the "giant spiders" attacking a little league baseball game, the "spiders" are obviously Volkswagen Beetles with puppet legs attached. Tread marks from the VW's tires can actually be seen in several camera angles. * This film is listed among the 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made in Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson's book THE OFFICIAL RAZZIE® MOVIE GUIDE. * In an interview director Bill Rebane said that shooting the film began before the script was even done. However, Rebane added that the script was re-vised numerous times throughout the shoot. * According to Bill Rebane the two writers on the film each approached the story from different directions. Richard L. Huff wrote the original story and kept a very serious tone to the first draft of the script. Robert Easton on the other hand lent the film a comical tone, writing most of the colorful dialog for his character and the other locals. The films rather infamous jokes are credited to him as well. Combining both writers material resulted in an odd-ball tone for the script. * Bill Rebane said that the hot summer temperatures were quite tough on the cast and crew. At times the temperature on location would be 100 degrees and on the sets it would reach 120 degree at times, thanks to the studio lighting. * Director Bill Rebane once dubbed the film "The Giant Spider Disaster" in an interview, referring to how problematic the production was. * Nearly all of the night scenes were shot day-for-night. The scenes were darkened in post production, though some of the footage was darkened too much to be clearly seen it was still used in the film. * In May 2005 there was a Bill Rebane film festival at the Orpheum Theatre in Madison, Wisconsin that featured this film. Hosting the festival were Michael J. Nelson and Kevin Murphy. Nelson and Murphy said despite their lampooning of the film on MST3K they actually admired Rebane because he was able to make the film with such a low budget. * David Hoff, who provides the radio voice of the helicopter pilot, was an actual pilot for the Wisconsin Air Guard. * Stars Steve Brodie and Barbara Hale pulled in family members to play supporting roles in the film. Brodie's son Kevin Brodie played Dave Perkins and Hale's husband Bill Williams came in to play the role of Dutch. * It took nine people to work the fake spider legs on the Volkswagen Beetle that was used for the giant spider. The people would have to huddle together on boards nailed to the inside of the stripped vehicle. * Since the driver of the infamous spider-car obviously couldn't see where the vehicle was going extras would often have to push the vehicle to guide it, while at the same time having to pretend they were fleeing from the 'giant spider'. * Originally the spiders in the film were suppose to be only about 10 feet in length but the producers insisted that if the film were going to compete with Jaws (1975), which was released around the same time, the size of the spiders would have to be increased to pose more threat. The Episode Host Segments Prologue: - Tom Servo's got spirit and wants to be a cheerleader. Wanting an 'S', Mike and Crow instead give him a M, an R, a small x, and one L. Servo's got MRxL! Segment One: - Pearl and her goons catch a bunch of fish, and discuss eating shrooms and the fish. Pearl proceeds to show some "wild flowers" they found, which prove later to be mind controlling aliens. Servo explains "portage", whilst managing to smack Mike and Crow with the canoe on his head ala three stooges style. Pearl and Brain Guy become controlled by the pods, and offer M&TBs some of the pods. Mike becomes suspicious, meanwhile Pearl sends him the movie. Segment Two: - Gypsy becomes controlled by one of the pods. She tries to convince M&TBs to sleep, but Mike can see something is wrong with her. Tom and Crow satirically say that she seems no different. Segment Three: - Mike and Tom struggle to stay awake so they don't have their minds taken over. Crow decides to consume a large quantity of caffeine. Mike calls Bobo, and discovers that he has not been taken over. Mike convinces Bobo of the pod's plan eventually, but it's too late as the mind controlled Observer and Pearl tie him up. Segment Four: - Mike and Crow attempt to determine the original Tom from the alien clone. The clone is successfully scared away when Tom proves himself by rattling off his underwear collection. Segment Five: - Mike ends up the only one not replaced by a clone. He calls Bobo and convinces him he can save the day. Bobo escapes and kills the mother pod, destroying the clones. Pearl, realizing she missed Mike and the Bots watching the movie, forces them to watch the movie again. Stinger: "Pfffft!" (Jeweler guy makes a raspberry with his tongue) Quotes & References The host segments in this episode parody Invasion of the Body Snatchers. "It's a Giant Spider Invasion of savings at Menards!" Menards is a chain of home improvement stores in the upper Midwest, headquartered in Mike Nelson's home state of Wisconsin. "Casual day at Hazelden." Hazelden is a chain of rehab/recovery centers based in Minnesota. "I need one room in Las Vegas and a lot of liquor, please." An allusion to the Nicholas Cage movie Leaving Las Vegas . "Aryan...Nation...rules." Aryan Nations is an American-based neo-Nazi group. "Free Mumia!" "Free Bobby Seale!" Mumia Abu-Jamal, the former "Information Minister" of the Black Panthers, has been in prison since the early 1980s for the murder of a Philadelphia police officer, but is believed to be innocent by many people. Bobby Seale, the Black Panthers' co-founder, was tried and acquitted on charges of murdering a fellow Panther in 1970. "SUUUUURGE!" The advertising slogan for Surge, a heavily caffeinated soft drink marketed by the Coca-Cola Company during the late 1990s. "They’re toughening GED standards! No fair! -- Boo!" GED stands for General Educational Development, the standardized test for people who never graduated from high school; passing the GED is equivalent to earning a high school diploma. In 1997 tougher standards went into effect: whereas before a student needed at least a score of 40 on each of the five sections or an average of 45 across all five tests, now they needed both a minimum score of 40 and an average score of 45. "Fur is murder!" Fur is murder is a popular slogan among anti-fur animal-rights activists, who denounce the use of animals for making fur coats as cruel and unnecessary, given the ready availability of non-animal-based outerwear. "Violence erupted when Dave Dudley canceled his appearance in Gleason." Dave Dudley is a Minneapolis musician known for his trucker-themed songs featured on such albums as 'Six Days on the Road' and 'Christmas Truck Stop.' "I’m headed over to Taco John’s till this blows over." Taco John’s is an American chain of Mexican restaurants featuring tacos, burritos, nachos, etc. "Give my Hamm’s waterfall sign to my son." Hamm’s is a beer manufactured in St. Paul, Minnesota. Its slogan is From the land of sky-blue waters, and many of its advertising signs feature a moving waterfall. "Dutch! Oh, Dutch." "Too many Jell-O shots." Jell-O is a sweetened gelatin dessert made by General Foods Corporation. Jell-O shots are Jell-O made with booze instead of with water and then cut into little squares for consumption by college students. "Um, Mr. Rebane, you really can’t see anything." "Shut up and keep filming, Mr. NYU Film Pants." New York University’s Film School has been teaching film for more than thirty years and is considered one of the country’s finest film schools. "It’s a VW in chenille." Lucky Strike cigarettes were one of the most popular brands in America during the first half of the twentieth century, and the first brand to be marketed directly to women. Thanks to an ad campaign in the 1920s that urged women worried about their weight to reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet, the number of teenage girls who smoked tripled in a decade. "I understand you can repair these giant spiders yourself." Yet another reason VW Beetles were so popular is that they were relatively easy to repair on those rare occasions when they broke down. "I wish John Agar were here." John Agar (1921-2002) was an actor who appeared in a stunning number of terrible B movies in the 1950s and 1960s. He has appeared in several MST3K episodes, including episode 8x03, The Mole People. "She’s dressed like an Elvis impersonator." Elvis Presley (1935-1977), the King of Rock and Roll, was one of the most popular musicians from the 1950s until his death in the late 1970s. He was a teen idol in the late 1950s, helped usher in the era of rock and roll, became a movie star, created an enormous and opulent home at Graceland in Memphis, developed problems with drug abuse, and finally died of a heart attack at the age of 42. Since his death, many, many people have earned a living by donning a sequined jumpsuit and pretending to be the King. There are more than 30 professional Elvis impersonators in Las Vegas alone. "If you see only ten thousand movies this year, make sure this isn’t one of them." 'If you see only one movie this year, make it this one' is a critic’s line that has been used for countless movies, to the extent that it has even been parodied in movie trailers: the trailer for Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me in 1999 announced, If you see only one movie this year, see Star Wars. But if you see two movies, see Austin Powers. "Soon Hitler’s giant mechanical spiders had pushed past the Maginot Line." The Maginot Line was a giant defensive barrier between France and Germany. It was built by France in the 1930s as a way to defend against another German attack like the one in World War I. Unfortunately for France, when Nazi Germany, under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, finally decided to invade in 1940, they did so by way of Belgium, where the French border was essentially undefended. "These spiders have lousy heaters, though." The heater in the VW Beetle (see above note) was notoriously terrible. Because the engines were air-cooled, it was difficult to channel excess engine heat into the passenger cabin. "Jog-walk out of danger!" Jog-walking is an exercise program in which the runner alternates jogging with walking, ultimately working up to five minutes jogging, one minute running. Marathoners sometimes use this approach because it is less likely to lead to cramps and muscle fatigue. "Might as well get my Pall Malls while I’m here." Pall Malls were one of the first 'premium' brands of cigarettes, debuting early in the 20th century. Between 1960 and 1966 they were the top-selling brand in the country. "Hey, spider, you have a ball hitch? Mine’s busted." A ball hitch is a type of hitch for automobiles that is commonly used for towing boat trailers and attaching bike racks. "Remember: I mate, then I kill." The female black widow spider notoriously devours the male after mating is completed, although there is some evidence to suggest that Mrs. Widow’s lethal reputation has been somewhat exaggerated. "The first extremely tentative atomic test at Alamogordo." Alamogordo is a town in New Mexico. On July 16, 1945, 60 miles from the air base at Alamogordo, the first atomic bomb was exploded. The following month, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, ending World War II. "I am death, destroyer of lawns." J. Robert Oppenheimer (1904-1967), head of the top secret Manhattan Project, has written that when he witnessed the detonation of the first atomic bomb at Alamogordo in 1945 (see previous note), a line from the sacred Hindu text Bhagavad-Gita came into his mind: I am death, destroyer of worlds. "The spider needs a Zantac." Zantac is an acid reducer used to relieve the symptoms of heartburn. It is available in both prescription and nonprescription forms. "Alan Hale digests a kielbasa." Kielbasa, also known as Polish sausage, is a type of sausage frequently flavored with garlic and smoked. It is made from either pork or a mixture of beef and pork. "I guess somebody tampered in God’s domain or something." A reference to Episode 4x23, Bride of the Monster. "PACKERS!! PACKERS WON THE SUPERBOWL!!!" This lead to considerable interest in this film among fans in communities online when The Green Bay Packers went up against and beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV in 2011. Video Release *Commercially released on DVD by Rhino Entertainment August 2006 as part of The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection: Volume 10, a 4-DVD set with Godzilla vs. Megalon, Swamp Diamonds and Teen-Age Strangler. Collection 10 was discontinued shortly after release, due to rights issues with Godzilla vs. Megalon. *This disc includes the first MST3K Video Jukebox, including the songs Tibby, Slow the plot down, The Waffle Song, Oh Kim Cattrall, My Wild Irish Ireland, Toobular Boobular Joy, Merry Christmas - If that's ok?, Doughy Guys, Nummy Muffin Coccol Butter, AM Radio in Space, When I held your brain in my arms, Where Oh Werewolf?, Please Staaay!, The Canada Song, and To Earth Category:MST3K Episodes Category:Season 8 Category:70s Movie